Spoiling Your Kid With a Lavish Birthday Party Sets Bad Trend

We have all seen the pictures and read the articles about celebrity kids. Heck, we write them here at The Stir. How late Suri Cruise stays up, what outfit Kingston Rossdale is decked out in, who is having a playdate with whom. We follow what celebrities and their kiddos are doing ... and face it, some of us (me included) buy a raincoat or grab a t-shirt because we saw Knox Jolie-Pitt wearing it.

What other celeb trends have been followed: the lavish birthday party. I have been to a few. Reports say Suri Cruise didn't have a huge blow-out this year, but who can forget her birthday soiree when she turned 2 ... which supposedly cost $100,000. Yes, that is the correct number of zeros, folks. And she isn't the only celeb kid having expensive parties.

But you know, I think, I hope, I wish another trend was started ...

I don't begrudge celeb parents for giving their kids a party like this -- they can afford it, obviously. And I know that many celebrities give generously of their time and money to charities, but knowing that the masses do follow what they do, do often copy, or, ahem, get inspired by what they buy or do -- why not meld the two? Go on, have a birthday party ... but have gifts brought for kids in need. Encourage party guests to bring teddy bears for kids to be given after fires or disasters. Bring DVDs to give to pediatric wards in hospitals.

Think of the ripple effect if a few celebs did this for their kid's birthday party and the word got out -- if even just 100 other "regular" families across the U.S. followed their lead, think of how many kids in need or in hospitals that would benefit. Think about if 1,000 families did this?

Trust me, the birthday kid won't mind. How do I know? We do this for Kiddo's party. We ask guests to bring unwrapped books, stuffed animals, or a snuggle blanket for a charity that helps kids in homeless shelters. No, my kid didn't go without presents on her birthday -- we gave her a few and her grandparents gave her some. We just asked our guests to bring something for the chosen charity. There were still cupcakes and fun and celebration.

Really, this could be the best gift any parent -- celeb or not -- could give their kid: teaching her how to be generous.